PARTIAL BRAIN TRANSPLANTS 

(Editor's note: In the beginning computers could only communicate in capital letters. This is one of 20 columns from Dr. Tomorrow's original series, included here to indicate change as well as describe it. Those columns also hold another story, that change is swift and offers both disaster and opportunity.)

WHY WOULD A MILITARY BODY LIKE THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO) BE INTERESTED IN A 110 L.B. (KILOGRAM) VANCOUVER WOMAN? INTERESTED ENOUGH TO INVITE HER TO TELL THEM ABOUT SOMETHING INSIDE THEIR OWN HEADS! SHE IS RELUCTANT TO AGREE THAT THIS IS THE ULTIMATE END RESULT OF HER WORK, BUT I CLASSIFY THE GOAL AS: BRAIN TRANSPLANTS!

WHILE TRANSPLANTING OF BODY PARTS CARRIES CONSIDERABLE DANGERS IN BIOLOGICAL AND OTHER REJECTIONS, THE BRAIN HAS A DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT. ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS TO DATE SUGGEST THAT THE BRAIN APPEARS TO BE THE MOST IMMUNOLOGICALLY SAFE LOCATION FOR TISSUE TRANSPLANTS. SMALL TRANSPLANTS COULD BE CARRIED OUT WITH MINIMAL RISK IN "DEAD END" CASES.

NEUROPSYCHOLOGIST DR. GERALDINE SCHWARTZ STUDIES BRAIN FUNCTION LEARNING. HER NEW PROGRAM "THINKERCIZE" TEACHES POWERFUL THINKING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES TO BRIGHT AND TALENTED PEOPLE FROM 10 YEARS TO OLD AGE. SHE IS DOING THIS AT THE VANCOUVER LEARNING CENTRE WHICH IS ALSO HELPING DYSLEXIC, BRAIN-DAMAGED, LEARNING DISABLED AND GIFTED CHILDREN. THIS IS IN ADDITION TO HER REGULAR PRIVATE PRACTICE AS AN NEUROPSYCHOLOGIST. BUT BACK TO THE NATO STORY.

AT THE INVITATION OF THE NATO SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE DR. SCHWARTZ PRESENTED A PAPER AT THEIR ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTE IN ATHENS, GREECE. IT WAS ON COGNITION AND POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS IN THE RESEARCH ARENA FOR THE PET (POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPH) SCANNER TO THE FIELD OF LEARNING DISORDERS. BECAUSE OF SUCH TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS AS THE PET SCANNER, WE CAN NOW STUDY THE FUNCTIONING OF THE LIVING BRAIN AS IT THINKS, IMAGINES, CREATES, SOLVES PROBLEMS AND FEELS. FOR THE FIRST TIME MAN IS ABLE TO WATCH HIS OWN BRAIN FUNCTION!

THIS IS JUST THE FIRST SCRATCH TOWARDS WHAT THESE NEW INVENTIONS MEAN TO THE HUMAN RACE. THIS ENTIRE FIELD STARTED IN THE MID-SEVENTIES WITH THE FIRST CANADIAN MACHINE APPEARING AT THE MONTREAL NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF MCGILL UNIVERSITY. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY ONE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA TRIUMPH CENTRE, A FOUR UNIVERSITY PROJECT (UBC, UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA, SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA) WHERE AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM OF NUCLEAR, MEDICAL RESEARCHERS, SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS ARE DEVELOPING A WORLD-CLASS PROGRAM IN PET TECHNOLOGY.

SEEING HOW THE BRAIN THINKS WILL PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO BRAIN FUNCTION. UNDREAMED OF POSSIBILITIES CAN NOW BE TESTED.

MORE INFORMATION:

DR. GERALDINE SCHWARTZ, THE VANCOUVER LEARNING CENTRE, 348 - 5740 CAMBIE STREET, VANCOUVER, BC V5Z 3A6.

PHONE: (604) 321-8149

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